Several pets have also been recently attacked by the snakes, with at least one dying. Unfortunately, the driving factor of recent rattlesnake encounters is due the the increase of their favorite food — rodents.

The city’s health department told the Times Record News on Tuesday that rat and mice populations have likely swelled due to abundant rainfall and crop yields.

“There’s no reason for them to not reproduce right now,” said Susan Morris, general environmental administration of the Wichita Falls-Wichita County Public Health District. “I’ve noticed that when I’m driving on the highway I see them crossing the roads. My assumption would be that they have a lot of food and they have a lot of water.”

Approximately 8,000 people are bitten by rattlesnakes each year in the U.S. with 10 to 15 deaths occurring, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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